Dayton Daily News MMA: Jon Fitch's Record Streak Nets Title Shot

http://mmajunkie.com Anderson Silva’s remarkable victory over Dan Henderson at UFC 82 overshadowed a smaller — but still significant — storyline from the event: Jon Fitch’s record win streak and upcoming title shot.

The story was the focus of this week’s “MMA Insider” column for the Dayton Daily News.

With Saturday’s unanimous-decision win over tough UFC newcomer Chris Wilson, FitchÂ (16-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) posted his eighth-straight victory in the UFC. No one has matched that streak since UFC hall-of-famer Royce Gracie won eight straight fights from UFC 1 to UFC 3.

Fitch seemed genuinely embarrassed to be mentioned in the same breath as Gracie when news of the record came up, but the Inadiana-based fighter was confident that his body of work deserved a title shot. After all, the list of victims is pretty impressive: Brock Larson (22-2), Josh Burkman (9-5), Thiago Alves (13-3), Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-4), Luigi Fioravanti (12-3), Roan Carneiro (12-6), Diego Sanchez (18-2) and Wilson (13-4).

In the post-UFC 82 press conference, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Fitch would be next in line for a title shot once “this whole Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre thing gets figured out.” Those two fighters headline an April 19 event in Canada.

White also hinted that Fitch had the opportunity to sit out the early part of 2008 to wait for his title shot. Instead, he lauded the 30-year-old fighter for taking the fight with Wilson.

In any manner, to read the entire story, which includes some info about Mark Coleman’s upcoming fight with Brock Lesnar and UFC 82 live gate/attendance info, head over to Dayton Daily News.